JuneFlower
by Andy Mai Williams
Summary: NOT A FANFICTION-I ACTUALLY AM WRITING THIS AND HOPING TO BE PUBLISHED.  A distopea story of the fabled Seven who will save their world with magical powers that were given to them by Dragons.  Action-Adventurey and Romance-ish at times.  Enjoy- A MW
1. Chapter 1

I

It was a grey morning in JuneFlower. Vast clouds hung over the sky, rain was coming. Shadows from the rising sun began so fall on my bed. Color was lacking from the world. I pulled my coarse brown hair into its long ponytail and brushed my too-long bangs from my eyes. The jagged lines of hair that impaired my vision were about to be gone. My pale fingers wrapped around the scissors. I place the blades to my hair and begin to cut. My bangs slowly fall back down to my eyes and I can see. That haircut was long overdue.

Looking in the mirror, I check my black eyeliner- its fine- and my outfit. My plaid red skirt that was mandatory for uniform was cut to shreds at the ends and pops out around my waist, showing the black underskirt. My grey-and-black striped jacket was in place so the sleeves just barely showed the multiple colored bracelets on my left wrist.

Navy blue socks were pulled up to my knees. I hate wearing these socks, but they're the only things that'll hide the large rash I have on my right leg. Its weird- the rash is just a patch of red that spirals from my ankle to my knee- but every day it becomes more detailed. When I first noticed it, the rash was just a patch. It grew bigger and now, if you look closely, you can see little etchings of scales. It has become darker so I've been wearing these long socks for nearly a week. But this isn't what I should be thinking of at this moment in particular.

My music is blaring out of the speaker system so I turn the little silver knob down just enough to hear my pagers near silent beep. Reaching to my waist I see the illegal little words scroll across the stolen screen.

All set, the OK on your mark. –Cole

This is all I need to know. Grabbing my skateboard off the wall and covering off my face with a black scarf, I headed to the front of the Hall. It looms over all of the school section of JuneFlower- the prestigious JuneFlower Academy of the Hall. My job in JuneFlower- as a junior- is to make sure no one is caught with illegal stuff, which is anything not fitting our time here. The time in JuneFlower is around the turn of the century on Earth. So cell phones, mp3 players, and digital stuff are big no-nos. Now, my job is not to ban that. It's stupid that we should be less advanced than every city before us. There's a pattern here- you know the order of the months, right? - Every city has a name of a month- JuneFlower, MayBlossem, JulySparks, get the picture? – The closer you get to New January, the more advanced you get. No one really knows how far into our future that New January is, exactly, but it is way tech. Tech that is forbidden everywhere else. But I have tech, so does Cole, and so do the deliveries that I'm "supervising" right now. And by supervising, I mean robbing. So I'm not an angel.

My pager is very tech, thought activated and camouflage, so all I need to do is tap it to send Cole my OK. Red glares into my eyes as I read her message:

Good luck, Yumé.

I pop my headphones in to block out the world for a moment as the car comes into sight. We only have old cars here, and even those are rare, so this was something. It was sleek and silver. I would give anything to steal that car instead of the cell phones that it was transporting to MayBlossem. But my job was here and now and there was no time to lose. I cranked up the J-Pop that I barely understood and it Ooo-Ooo-Ooo-Aaah-Ooo-Aaahed into my ear drums. I picked up to its tempo and laid down the nails. The plan was simple enough- put down nails, blow the tires, nab some phones as they fix the tires, and show up to school while everyone thinks I should be sleeping. Everything was set, so I climbed up a tree to be out of sight as the car came closer.

I secured my seat on the branch and got a better look at the car. I cursed silently to myself as I realized that this was a flying car. A flying car would not be stopped by nails, I knew that much. They've never sent flying cars to this part of JuneFlower, maybe the other side of the city so the tech-worthy scientists could study something, but never here. Something was up. I tapped my pager and the little red glow comforted me even though Cole's words were anything but optimistic.

Don't do it, you'll kill yourself, Yumé!

I only had the one chance. If I follow the car, I'd lose it in no time at all. It was hitching a ride or ditch the mission. And I didn't feel like ditching today. So I climbed down from the tree and scout up and down the road, no eyes watching me except the faint green glow of dark-glasses that would be Cole. I waved to her and my pager glowed red with curse words from her. I rolled up the nails in their pouch and positioned myself on the dirt road and waited. I'd only have one chance and there were two ways to fail- miss the bars and stay on the road, or grab in the right way and let go too soon. One way you live, the other you die. That's usually the situation though.

I braced myself as I heard the near silent hum of the car. I stopped the music and slowly raised my hands. I barred my fingers in the way Cole had taught me and inhaled. I don't think holding my breath will help me focus any more, or increase my chances of success in any way, but it was now or never. Within a matter of seconds the car passed over me and I grabbed the metal bars, hoisting myself to the underside of the silver vehicle. Adrenaline rushed to my mouth in the form of bile that I chocked down, this car was speeding up.

Pulling myself further from the ground, I felt the strangely cold metal to my cheek. I had always thought that the metal being cold was a myth; there was no way that the car would be cold if it went so fast. Surely, friction with the air would cause it to hear up at least a little. I remember nearly five years ago when my teacher had laughed at me for speaking such nonsense. We were taught the knowledge of only this time period here. But it was the highest school you could get into by grade. You had to be born into knowledge in the tech cities. I'm lucky that my parents were smart enough to send me here from OctoberRush, so I wouldn't believe in spontaneous generation. In places like OctoberRush and DecemberSnow, dust behind couches is where mice come from.

The car began to slow and I can feel my too-long hair slipping from where my ponytail is tied to my back so it won't trail behind me. I don't move. Feet dressed in slick black dress shoes exit from the doors on either side. But there is one pair of shoes that seems out of place. Old, worn-out, once-white sneakers are pulled from the seat. Jeans drape around the edges of the shoes, looking like an orange dress in a black and white ball. I hear a boys voice, probably only a little older than me, call for help. He pleaded to be let go. It took all I had in me to stay put until they got inside the interrogation office. I'd never been to this part of town before, it's out of sight from the school section and I can't even see the brown roofs of the dorms in either direction. Whatever was going on here didn't want to be found out.

I let myself drop to the ground and knocked the breath out of myself in the process. A voice sounded from the car and I could tell that it was the only voice that would come. It was just this, probably strong, most likely armed, man of the government against me, a 16-year-old girl with stringy muscle whose only advantage is surprise. I'd usually put myself into the occasional fight at school for some reason or another- mostly because some scum tried to steal my tech- but it was always someone around my age. Never someone as huge as this guy must be. And, of course, like the idiot I am, I grabbed his ankle as he stepped out of the car. My black nails dug into his skin and the man screamed. I let go and rolled under to the other side of the car to avoid his gaze. The man was looking under the car as I jumped over the silver metal roof and knocked the breath out of him as he hit the floor.

"Not a word and you live," I harshly disguised my voice into his ear and opened the back seat to the car. There was a small white box on the middle seat labeled FSB- TO BE TAKEN. I knew better, this stuff was either going to be burned or someone was going to take it. I remember my white box I'd brought from OctoberRush- it held only one thing, a pink stuffed rabbit, but they burned it all the same. YSN was written on mine- Yumé Sylvanna North- this FSB might want his pink rabbit. I slipped it under my jacket and ran out of sight.

I tapped my pager to tell Cole what I saw, little but still possibly useful. We'd either be getting a new classmate or there'd be another stack of smoke. I tried not to think of the white shoes being engulfed in the flames- it was only rumor that they burned people here. Some said it was traitors that they caught in the forest that were burned, others said they were criminals (which meant that Cole and I probably would've been burned alive by now, had we been caught). But we were all told by authority that it was fire that fueled our town. Burning fossil fuels apparently supplied energy in our time period. I cleared my mind; there was no way that he was dead.

I just have to keep moving. Red glares up at me as I see the entrance to the Hall come into view. My pager probably says something about being late to orchestra practice and how Mr. Leeds is probably going to kill me. I've got no time to check as I run. The world begins to blur as I know I've reached my limit. My pace slows and I've only a few more blocks to go. I pass the library that branches off from the general store and wave to Aunt Rootie, the librarian. She's not really my aunt, or anyone's relative for that matter, but everyone calls her Aunt Rootie, or Root. Her real name is Annalisa Rootwood, but she's like everyone's grandma. She's the greatest. She probably even knows that I was the one robbing all the tech from the labs, that Cole was the one who spray-painted the Hall to say "Hall of Hell" last week, she probably knew that my viola was at home and I had orchestra first hour of school.

I changed my course to grab my viola from home. My pager blinks red again and I ignore it once more as the worn door to my shared dorm comes into view. I reach to my belt key to unlock the door and fumble my fingers around the lock as I hear the soft click. My house is relatively colorful on my side of the rooms. Bright colors that were lacking light this morning greet my eyes that take a while to adjust. I sit on my bed for a second and look to my viola case in the corner between the wall and door. I click my pager and two messages scroll across the screen.

Yumé, Mr. Leeds has you suspended already, no need to rush. –Cole

Turns out they found out it was me who spray-painted the Hall, see you in the principals office. –Cole

I sighed in relief, if I'm suspended than there's no need to rush. I plug my ear buds in and familiar piano notes classical rock their way into my mind as I sing along. My mp3 player was way on the illegal scale here; Cole got it for my birthday last year from a truck that was stopped up in the forest. She'd been on a walk, minding her own business, really, and there was a fully-loaded truck full of mp3's that were already full of songs, so what were you expecting her to do? She snagged three- one for her, one for me, and one to sell for a fortune on the black market.

There were only a few professional musicians in this part of the world, and they were old school rock. Some techno songs hit up big in New January, there are mostly love ballads in FebuaryLove (shocker), so the music on this mp3 was a big deal- it was interplanetary. None of the songs I know the words to are from Year. I'm just a ball of illegal.

It's probably not going to look good on my already bad record that I was late for suspension, so I headed out. I walk on an allegretto to the song I'm listing to and carry my viola over my shoulder. I might as well look like I only overslept. I stopped the music but continued to walk on pace as I hid my tech. My backpack was nearly empty but I had sewn a pocket that was nearly hidden from sight, and that's where I shoved my pager and mp3. My socks were falling down so I tidied myself up- untying my ponytail from the latch on my back, straightening out my skirt, pulling down the black face mask. I was barely recognizable in the light. Punk, 16-year-old girl who could beat the snot out of anybody was fixing her hair to make sure she looked pretty.

I opened the doors and strolled down the hall to the principal's office. Inside there would be five seats that were never filled all the way, one for me and one for Cole today. The other three would probably be empty. I reached to the knob, but it turned for me. A boy who looked about 14 came out. He had bright green eyes, orange hair, and politely excused himself from almost knocking me over, but when his gaze met mine- we were about the same height since I'm short for my age- he hesitated for a moment as if he knew me.

"You look just like," He began

"Ms. North, well, you know what to do." The principal bellowed from his cushy seat. I shrugged at the boy and walked into the office. Cole was already in the office so I sat next to her in the uncomfortable metal chair. She nodded to me, her dark brown hair covering her black eyes. She was extremely tan and long. Cole was always wearing this bright green jacket with the sideways XP logo of her favorite brand of clothes- totally not within our century, but the time legality is a bit more lax about clothes. Even the mid-eighteenth century places where every girl should be wearing bodices, skirts and corsets there were a few Breakers who wore jeans and t-shirts. The Enforcers called us criminals, but we called each other Breakers- like, breaking the law. The Enforcers ran the police force and made patrols and raids every so often, but not so much in the schools. If they raided the school we'd find a way to get our stuff back and a little revenge on the way. And they know it. So we're just overlooked.

"What were you doing this morning, Ms. North?" The Mr. Bee croaked.

"I overslept,"

"Again?" He seemed disdainful, but in his monotone voice it could be anything, "That's the third time this week."

"I guess I have to get an alarm clock," I whispered to Cole, who laughed.

"What was that, Ms. North?"

"I just said that I'll have to get Cole to wake me up earlier."

"Well, I'd normally agree but you two need to be doing just the opposite."

"The opposite of getting up? 'Cuz, I'd happily go back to sleep." Cole muttered defiantly

"No, the opposite of staying together! Ms. North is the top student here, and I'd rather not have you, Mrs. Andrews, corrupt her further!"

"Sheesh," Cole spat, "I think being corrupted was her choice, chose it from the minute she first punched me back." We fist-bumped and laughed as Mr. Bee's face grew tomato red.

"Alexandra Andrews," Cole flinched at her name; no one ever called her Alexandra… and lived.

"You will go back to class." She shrugged and left, tapping my shoulder for good luck. It's not really luck, more like a tapping in. Like saying, "I'm done; take the next hit for me, Kay?"

"And, you Ms. North, you will be escorting two new students."

I nearly doubled over, "You want a juvenile delinquent to show fresh meat around."

"No, I want our top student to show new students around. They're waiting outside. Go and meet them. Be polite- this'll get you excused from classes today."

I was shoved out the door into two boys. Apparently, the redhead from earlier was a newbie and the tall boy with him was the other.

"Yo, I'm Yumé North. I'll be showing you guys 'round." I looked them over- the boy from earlier was actually a bit taller than I am, probably about 5'9", and his bright green eyes had a ring of brown around the pupils, and his face was constellation of pale freckles. He was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt and rather clean jeans that were a bit faded. The other boy with him was more of a man, probably about 17 years old, had rusty reddish brown hair, sapphire blue eyes, and was close to six feet tall. He was tan and had a slight build, wearing a white t-shirt with guitars on it, worn out jeans, and old white sneakers.

"I'm Iggy Spade, nice to meet you Yumé." The redhead said, the other politely said

"Farren," the other said and smiled a bit.

"Well, I guess you're expecting a tour. This is the principal's office, if you need to find me or Cole we'll probably be here or doing something that'll eventually get us here." Farren muffled a laugh and Iggy smiled as I went on, showing them the various classrooms. Iggy, as it turns out, only looks fourteen. He's actually just turned sixteen and Farren is seventeen, but he's turning eighteen in a few weeks.

I showed them the science room with the "egg babies" laid out in rows with the grades. Mine was the only failed- only because I took it with me last week when Cole and I stole some new jeans, since you can only get uniforms at the general store, and it fell out of its basket and got a sizeable crack along the front. You were supposed to decorate it to look like a baby, but I made mine look like a golden retriever, because those are way cuter than real babies.

"Why does your dog only have one eye?" Farren brushed my shoulder to get me attention.

"Well, it got in a fight with a pretty nasty cat…" I smiled widely at Farren, who did the same and Iggy laughed. He's quite the optimist.

So, our little tour continued for another hour or so with me showing them around the school, introducing them to people who told them not to hang around with me. All of them gave me sideways glances that I answered with a menacing smile that made them flinch. Especially this one blonde who said I wasn't Farrens type, obviously flirting.

"I think I'll take my chances." He told her with a smile. I think I'm gonna like this one. I showed them their separate rooms. Farren was rooming with this hyper know-it-all, Jake Rutherford, who was my friend from orchestra. He plays trumpet. As it turns out Farren plays cello and Iggy plays acoustic guitar.

"I should probably unpack, where can I get my stuff?" Iggy asked

"They put it up in your room, at least they usually do,"

"Kay, thanks!"

"Wait, Iggy, if there's anything missing, don't ask for it. They'll just deny it exists. All part of the time zones staying intact."

His happy expression changed to a serious one that I thought his smiling face couldn't wear, "Alright," and with that he left.

"So, Farren, you gonna go, too?"

"Yeah, am I gonna see you tomorrow?" He smiled and I thought this meant he liked me but then I realized I was one of the only two people he knows here. So I nodded and looked down out of habit. Looking at his shoes was like a cold slap in the face.

"Farren, what's your full name?"

"Farren Shane Bright, why?"

"Come by my house tomorrow, I think I have something that belongs to you,"


	2. Chapter 2

II

My breath fogged the cold windows in circles. I don't know how yesterday had been a perfectly gloomy day and gone to this coldness. I'd never seen snow before. It'd never snowed in JuneFlower, to my knowledge. As if just to prove me wrong, a white blanket covered about an inch of ground and flacks were still falling. Red glared from the pager on my bedside table.

It's snowing! –Yumé

I remember Yumé telling me stories about the snow she had seen back in OctoberRush. She was a strange one, Yumé. She would go on and on about things that happened in her old home, but when it came to people she couldn't remember even her own parents. I could remember, in clarity, what happened to mine.

I was born in MayBlossem, a city that exists around the Earth time of 2010. Everything I have to hide here was all the rage there- mp3's, cell phones, cars. It was great there. I lived in MayBlossem until I was seven. The raids were getting worse and my parents wanted me to be safe. The only place they could think of was here, in JuneFlower. Where the Hall surrounds us and border patrols keep the Army's raids at bay. But they were too slow. I was shoved into a pantry when the officer burst down our door. He demanded gold and treasures that we didn't have. But he wouldn't take that for an answer. He killed both my parents, beheaded them right in front of their hidden daughter.

The patrollers from the town found me some time later. I was told it was days, but it seemed like only hours. The scene was still fresh in my mind. Their bodies hadn't moved and neither had I. The patrol had to pry my fingernails from the wood walls of the pantry. As they were they found a rolled up slip in my hand. It was the acceptance letter to JuneFlower Academy. So they brought me here with nothing but the clothes I had on then and the fresh blood that had opened in my mind. I've dreamt about that night every day since, knowing I could've done nothing.

I was told it had snowed and rained and hailed the week I was moved here. It stormed with ferocity that no one here was used to seeing. But I don't remember. I don't remember anything about that week before meeting Yumé. She told me her name and I said mine but as I said Alexandra I had begun to cry. Only my parents had called me that since no children lived nearby and the adults only acknowledged my existence through a solemn, slow nod they'd give me. So I told her my middle name. Cole.

Everyone calls me Cole here. Cole- the master of thieves, the one to go to if you need anything stolen. The fifth chair oboe player in orchestra. Yes, I'm the fifth chair out of five. So what? The oboe is a hard instrument to play. Especially in the cold when it goes sharp. Like now. I tapped my pager.

Yeah, my heater's working, why? –Yumé

Why, indeed my little friend. Why does she think? Mine's broken down since I used part of it for target practice with some throwing stars I lifted. I'm going to her house.

Yumé lives about a block from here. Five minutes or so on foot, and here everyone's on foot. I remember those kids from yesterday. The tall one was kinda cool, he looked like he could be useful in a fight. But he was a bit too clean cut and nice to really help me out. The other one was too noticeable with that orange hair. You could spot him in a crowd within two seconds with that hair. He also had a weird build, long legs with too-broad shoulders but skinny all around. He had weird muscle structure, too, like he wasn't built for running.

Snow fell on my nose and eyelashes, reminding me of an old song that was on the mp3 I lifted. I felt a bit paranoid that the snow left tracks behind me, no stealing today. Any snow tracks would lead anyone who went towards the forest boundary would reveal the Thief's Path, as Yumé and I called it. We cut the path out of the Ash Forest so we could get to the road without being too close to the school or interrogation hall.

The interrogation hall is this giant white building where all of the higher authorities of JuneFlower work. They live in the outer ring- the space between the Outer Wall and the Inner Wall. We're in the inner ring, by the Hall which is actually a segment of the Inner Wall that is where our classrooms are. The girls' dorms are to the south, near the math and science rooms, and the boys' dorms are to the northwest by the sports park- which was coming into view now that I was nearing Yumés house.

I bundled into my blanket as a sudden frosty breeze hit my face at full blast. Looking up from my fuzzy shield I saw the boy from yesterday, Farren.

"Why are you wrapped in a blanket?" His sapphire blue eyes met mine and I saw that he wasn't wearing a jacket. In fact, warmth was practically coming off of him in streams.

"Why aren't you? Aren't you cold?" I skeptically gestured to his barely-covered torso and he shrugged.

"You're Alexandra, right?" I winced at the mention of my real name and cut him off.

"Cole, call me Cole."

"Alright, Cole, where you headed?" I pointed to Yumé's house, which was only a few seconds away, "My AC is broken."

"Mine's fine but Yumé said I should come over." I wonder if this has anything to do with the FSB box Yumé found yesterday, maybe Farren is the kid she saw being dragged out of the car.

"So, will you let me go now?"

"On one condition. Take me with you. I don't know where she lives." Farren's shy, crooked smile played his lips for a few moments as I stepped around him and made for the house that was just in sight. I punched the wood frame of the door and a click told me that the door had been unlocked. Kerrard, Yumé's roommate opened the door. Her blond hair covered most of her face and draped over her shoulders.

"Yumé's upstairs." She shrugged and trudged back to her room, closing the door with a soft click. I stomped my way up the stairs of Yumé's house that was so similar to mine. A kitchen, bathroom and bedroom on the first floor, a bedroom, bathroom, and study room on the second. Farren fell behind on the stairs and I was up when he was almost halfway there. I must admit, my first impression of him was that he was a moron. And he wasn't doing a very good job of proving me wrong.

"Yumé?" Farren and I called unintentionally in unison. It ticked me off a bit, I don't like people finishing sentences for me. But Yumé opened the door all the same. She saw me and sighed a bit, but perked up when she saw Farren. I know that look. Her electric blue eyes met my own black ones and the spark of adventure was clear. She grabbed my arm and rushed me into her room, not bothering to wait for Farren, but calling him forward.

"Come on, Farren, they're just stairs, be a man!" She shouted as I plopped onto her bed. There were so many colors in her room- the walls were green, the bed was orange, the ceiling was covered in trippy drawings I made, and by the large glass balcony doors there were crystals and mirrors catching the light and reflecting patches of rainbows all over her room. One glared into my eye and momentarily blinded me.

As I looked away from the scraps of crystal a white box caught my eye. It was about the size of a shoebox, maybe smaller. The sides were tied with brown string and there was only one thing that broke the whiteness: FSB-TO BE TAKEN. Yumé had told me about her own box, the one with her bunny in it. I could really care less, seeing as I never got to pack a box since I was wheeled here right after they found me.

Farren entered the room now and I can see that he is slightly out of breath. Wimp. But of course, I do march mellophone in the band here. Yumé's in orchestra, so she took track for her health elective. She's still not faster than me though. She walks strangely, too. Like her knees are at a weird angle. She sometimes forgets simple things- like how to walk, or that she's right-handed. She can be kind of annoying sometimes, just because she knows me too well.

She knows how I wish I could be pretty, how I think I'm not. I could really care less about looks, but she insists I think I'm pretty. She knows how I want to be important; she knows that I want to love someone. But they're all idiots here. No one is like Jared. Don't you dare call me insane when I say I have an imaginary boyfriend. Cuz I don't. Jared Steele is a perfectly awesome, ninja-warrior, who I want to marry someday. If I ever find someone like him, that is.

My mind is snapped back into perspective when a soft tapping at the balcony door catches my attention. A reddish-brown cat is clawing at the glass. The cat looks weird. He has blue eyes, really deep sapphire blue eyes, and longish red hair only on his head. The hair covers his left eye, but not his right, making him look like an EMO cat. The only thing that kept my attention focused was when Farren looked directly at the cat and said, "Dann?"

Now, normally cats would be named Mr. Whiskers, Fluffy, you know, cat names. But Dann? I knew Farren had reminded me of someone. This must be Farren Bright, Danniel Bright's twin brother. His twin had been sent here from JulySparks a year or so before I arrived and he was the one who showed me around on my first day. Dann was cool. I liked him. But why would Farren name a cat after his brother?

Farren and Yumé exchanged glances and she unlocked the door and let the cat in. DannCat strode up to Farren and glared, as if scolding him. Yumé pulled an old book out of the box that I now noticed had several holes in it. The cat was small enough to fit- it could've been in the box the whole day and if it was quiet, no one would notice.

"I hope you don't mind, I've been reading it." She said as she handed the old book to Farren, its binding was well-worn and the cover was torn a bit in the corner. Farren looked up at her in amazement,

"How did you get this? I thought that the last time I'd see Dann and this book was,"

"That day in the car. I know- I was, um, under it the whole time. I stole the box after they had taken you into the interrogation office. Dann was a very good kitty and stayed on the patio until you came. I let him in when I saw the snow, but he stayed out for some reason or another."

"You always missed the snow, didn't you?" Farren said to the cat, who was now on the bed licking his paws, but at the comment the cats head came up and looked Farren in the eye.

"Of course I'd miss the snow. I haven't seen it since we left that God-forsaken place. "Said the cat. SAID THE CAT. Yumé and I just stared at the little animal for a while, the small cat that had seemed only a little out of the norm that had just talked to us. And Farren looked as if nothing had changed.

"Did the cat… just talk?" The words barely had escaped my mouth before the cat came bounding to me and sat on my knee,

"My name is Dann, thank you. And, besides, I know you. Alexandra Cole Andrews." I was shocked. My face froze. The voice was deeper, but it was Danns.

"Dann, Danniel Bright….. you're a cat!"

"Tell me something I don't know. But don't fret, little Cole, I am a cat because right now, I want to be. Actually, I have to be…"

Yumé stood and took the cat up in her arms like she would any other animal.

"Dann, you're really Farrens brother? I was wondering why I kept thinking you were talking to me. I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me again. Guess I'm not that crazy yet."

"No, Yumé, you're not crazy. In fact, you're less crazy than a lot of people I know." Farren stood and took his, uh…. Brother from Yumé.

"Lots less crazy then our old pal CrimsonTears, eh, Farren?" Dann said sarcastically. CrimsonTears. She was the leader of the Army that was pillaging half of the planet, and ruling the rest. The leader whose troops killed my parents. They haven't reached JuneFlower yet, but who knows when they will.

"What do you know about CrimsonTears?" I pressed

"Everything there is to know. Actually, a bit less than Shay, our spy. But Farren and I are actually on our way to OctoberRush to train."

"Train? In OctoberRush? Why would you want to go there, why not New January, they have more powerful weapons?" Yumé's puzzled look confused me as well. Why OctoberRush, indeed.

"New January has been at war for eons, we can't expect their help. They've shunned our kind."

"Our kind?" I hope I didn't look as stupid as I felt, because all I knew of the Army was that they were a bunch of evil guys who wanted totalitarian rule.

"Our kind, well, me and Farren at least. We're Keepers. The Army wants us alive so they can stop the line of Keepers while they destroy the world. They want to kill everyone who isn't like them. And those who are like them, but resist, have an even crueler fate."

This was too much.

"Keepers? Come on, you can't be serious? Ok, where are the wires and cameras? Is this some New January show? What, is it called 'Let's make fun of the low tech kids'? Be serious now, a Keeper would prove that he's not just an animatronic kitten. " DannCat jumped from Farrens arms and I witnessed possibly what must be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. He turned into a human. The fur on his body shrank into darkly tanned skin, the blue eyes turned into a jelly-like substance as the turned to normal size. The worst part? He was naked.

"Oh, yes Cole. You have been punck'd! Right, what great holograms, yes? You don't believe I'm the Keeper of Beasts now, eh?" My mind was scarred for life at this point, but Dann was right here, an actual Keeper. Most people live their whole lives not knowing a Keeper. And here was a naked Cat Man with his twin brother. Keepers.

"See this?" he pointed to a mark on the back of his neck, "This is a Keeper Scar. We have them. You can tell what Keeper someone is by the Scar and where it is represents the strength of their powers. See how mine is on my neck? It means I'm not all that powerful, unfortunately." His words became more slurred as he turned back into his cat form. "Farren has a Scar, too. On his right arm," Farren lifted up his sleeve to reveal a dragon scar that moved along a blood vain, "He is very powerful. For the Keeper of Wind, the arm is the best place for a Scar. Keeper of Animals is the chest. Keeper of Flight is best on the back, right between the wings."

"Like our friend, Iggy." Farren spoke up, interrupting his brothers rant.

"Yes, yes, yes… Iggy. The Keeper of Flight." Three Keepers all in JuneFlower. Wow. I wonder if anyone else knows this.

"And Lilly, hers is on her pinky- very strong. Perhaps the strongest for the Keeper of Earth. Shay on her face, pretty good for a Keeper of Light. Yumé's on her leg… I wonder how powerful that is for the Keeper of Fire."

I looked at Yumé, luckily she was a shocked as I was. Yumé was the Keeper of Fire? Since when? She never told me… She took off her socks, the long black ones she'd been wearing lately, to reveal a dark dragon marking. It was very detailed, you could see scales, teeth, claws, and where the spiraling dragon cut off around her knee you could see a pattern like flames.

"I'm a Keeper?" She whispered, covering her face to hide the surprise and excitement in her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

III

"Yes, Yumé- You're a Keeper. " I glanced up to Cole from where I sat. "You're a Keeper, too. We're not sure which one, though."

"I AM?" Cole nearly stepped on my tail when she bounded over and knelt next to me. She pulled up the bottom of her shirt to expose a Scar around her bellybutton.

"So THAT'S what this thing is! Seriously? I'm a Keeper! Wow…" She was going to get annoying…

"We've got who we need, Farren go get Iggy. He'll need to fly ahead to tell Shay and Lilly we're on our way."

My brother nodded and ran down the stairs. There was a loud crash as he hit the wall out of momentum. I cannot fathom how the hell we're twins. We're about as alike as summer and winter.

"So, what's going on? Why do we have to leave?" Yumé had sat on her bed and I motioned for Cole to do the same. Their eyes bore into me and I could smell the mixed emotions radiating off of them.

"If may seem like everything's safe here, but out in the world there's an army that's been taking control of strongholds and turning them against us. Us, the Keepers. Their leader believes that all Keepers are evil and only hold power because they practice witchcraft. They want to destroy our powers and stop the line of Keepers,"

My voice had risen to a frantic scream as Farren burst through the door with Iggy and DuskeyGold.

"Kerrard, what're you doing here?" Yumé's puzzled look became deeper.

"I'll explain later. We need to get moving now. They've reached the Inner Wall."

"WHAT?" I stood to my full height and pulled on the emergency shorts as we all ran out of the house. Smoke clogged my lungs. There was fire everywhere. It engulfed the dorms, even the one we were just in.

"We have to run- NOW! Iggy, get Lilly and Shay to meet us at the outer gate if it's safe."

"Right," There was a flash of silver and Iggy was gone.

"But what do we do? There's no way out!"

"Yes there is," Cole grabbed both mine and Farrens hands and urged us to follow her. We ran through the streets and came to the fence surrounding the forest. Yumé squeezed through a hole at the bottom of the wiring, followed by Cole and Farren. We broke back into a run and tore through the trees. The smoke grew thicker and eventually clouded our vision. I shifted back into my cat form and my eyelids pulsed back and forth furiously. Farren began to whip the smoke away and a burst of white streamed a path to the inner gate.

Iggy was long gone by now on his way to OctoberRush, but it seems he remembered to open the gate for us. Nice kid. The flames whipped around the outer city. The trees continued through until the outer Wall. There was no way out but up from here.

"LILLY!" I screamed as a vine streamed over. The huge plant encased us all and hoisted us up in a sort of plant-elevator. The flames reflected over everyone's tear-stained eyes. Yumé whimpered and hugged Cole, who was crying. Farren looked somber. He stared at the flames and solemnly nodded. He knew this would happen.

"Dann, get everyone over. I need to make sure no one notices us." Lilly screamed as she disassembled the vines over the uproar. Running to the other side of the Wall, I could see that everything had been burned about three miles out into the forest. Lilly grabbed everyone and bundled us together in a weed blanket. A large tree rose above the Wall. She pushed us into the branches and we literally slid down the tree with Lilly behind us. Her small, white dress could be seen coming down as the rest of us reached the ground and sped towards the woods. Three miles. Two. One. The trees surrounded us on all sides and the uproar began to fade.

Lilly joined up with us and took the lead. She was always the best runner, but Farren and I wouldn't know where it had moved to, anyway.

It was light by the time we reached the HummingTree. It buzzed with the trickle of water and various pulley systems hung from the branches. Our speed had faded some dozen miles ago. Lilly somehow managed to still look pretty after running here. Damn her good looks. The twelve-year-old opened the door for us as we trudged into the large base. I padded straight to my room in the upper part of the tree, but I could hear Lilly explaining our situation to the others. I can only hope sleep will come easily to me tonight…

_Our World is ruled in Pain and Fear_

_But the Saviors will come, when Time is Near_

_They will be SEVEN_

_Sent to us from the Glory of Heaven_

_Who will save our world of Year._

_But sorrow for some_

_One will die when this is done_

_And another before it's even begun._


	4. Chapter 4

IV

I woke early this morning to get breakfast for everyone. The only mirror in the entire tree is in the bathroom. Let's just say my face took a beating from the flames. I thought the dark line across my nose was dirt, actually. It took quite a jolt of pain through my face for me to realize that the fire had done it. My hair had been singed black on the ends, but you really couldn't tell. My hair, for whatever reason, gets progressively darker from root to tip, so the roots are red but the tips are black. It has a pretty cool effect, but whatever. My blue eyes stared at me from the glass. It's been a long time since I'd last seen my reflection. I ran my fingers though my hair, I hadn't realized it got so long.

"Hey, I want an explanation. Why the Hell are we here?" Yumé's electric blue eyes met mine indirectly though the glass of the mirror. Her incredibly long hair was ratted around her shoulders and reached her waist in a tangle. She was still in her school uniform- skirt and all. Her feet were bare, excepting one long, blue sock covering her Scar. I must admit, even in the mess she was, she was beautiful standing there.

"Farren?" She had come over to me by the window and waved her hand in front of my eyes, snapping me from my daze.

"Yeah?"

"I want an explanation. Why does the Army want to kill us? What are we doing?"

"Shay's probably the best to explain that to you. You'll actually have to wait for her to get back…"

"I don't want to wait." She had stood taller, which still wasn't very tall, and tried to look menacing.

"How about this- after breakfast you can meet me by a stream just to the west. I'll explain everything to you there."

She pursued her lips, biting the left side of her lower lip a bit as she did, and created a "thinking face" affect.

"Fine," She began to leave, and I threw something at her.

"What the heck, Farren?"

"You might consider using it."

Yumé laughed as she looked down at the hairbrush. Score one for Farren Bright.

Breakfast consisted of various fruits that our very own Keeper of Earth grew out back in the garden and juice made from those fruits. We were out of bread, since Shay hadn't come back from MayBlossom yet. She had better be back soon, seeing as we need to leave ASAP. Lilly decided to show Cole around the area so she wouldn't get lost. Dann was a hermit, as usual, staring at maps for hours on end in his room all day. He didn't attend breakfast.

"So, who are all these people? I mean, I got you, Dann and Iggy, but what's up with Lilly and this ever-so-famous Shay?"

"Well, Lilly's the Keeper of Earth and Shay's the Keeper of Light."

"No, I meant who are they? What do they look like?"

"You saw Lilly at breakfast, didn't you?"

"I kinda just focused on the food and shoved it in my face. I've kinda been running all night, barely got any sleep and wanted something to fuel my system."

"Point taken. Lilly's the short one with blonde hair that always wears a white dress. However stained it may get. Shay, well…. Shay's unique. Her hair is black on the ends and bright blue by the roots… Her eyes are kinda… red."

"RED?"

"She's the Keeper of Light, colors are kinda her thing. If she gets mad, the entire forest might turn red."

"Seriously? Like, forever?"

"No, she's only good at illusions. That's why she's always the one to go to town for us. She can blend in and alter light around her so she isn't seen."

"That's awesome! I can only burn stuff… By the way, what happened to Kerrard?"

"Kerrard? OH! You mean DuskeyGold."

"DuskeyGold… as in, the pirate?"

"Yes, you didn't know? DuskeyGold is the pirate from the Legends of Silence. You know? The famous Hunter."

"Yeah, I know, I know. But I thought she's been dead for, what, a hundred years?"

"Actually, if you read the Legend correctly, you'd know she's immortal."

"What the heck, that's impossible."

"No, didn't you ever read the Legends?"

"Well, back in OctoberRush I heard a lot about Legends and Prophesies, but I never really read them. I remember my sister telling me about her favorites."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, I guess. I was adopted into this family of just a mother and daughter. I don't remember that much about them since they only had me for about two years before I was sent to JuneFlower. I have a vague idea of them- an incredibly happy mom with a nerdy little do-it-all daughter."

"Iggy wasn't kidding then… You are her then." I looked at this girl with a new-found admiration. She shot me a slightly annoyed, puzzled expression.

"No, I meant… You didn't know?"

"Know what?" I have to choose my words carefully, she might not be… But it's just to coincidental. I'll have to ask Iggy when he gets back.

"Never mind, it's nothing."

"OH COME ON! You _can't_ just say something and then drop it! That's the most ANNOYING thing ever." Yumé stood up and gave me a nice view of her feet. Her feet that were burning the grass as she stormed off.

Dang, I have the _worst _luck with everything. Cole and Lilly passed by and waved to me. I waved back but didn't hide the annoyance on my face. I needed quiet. Strolling back to the HummingTree, I decided I wanted to read. Something to get my mind off everything that's going on. My room was the furthest underground. I shared it with Iggy and Dann, but Dann was almost always in his study and Iggy was gone for now. So it was empty. And pleasantly cleaner than expected. There was very little tech in the HummingTree, seeing as it moved every so often (Lilly's doing) and everything that wasn't natural had to be carried. So every month-or-so there were some teens carrying blankets, mp3 players, a guitar and a grand piano across the forest. Yep. You heard me. One grand piano. I blame, like most of my life's problems, Dann. He stole it for Lilly some years back, however one steals a grand piano, and now he has to drag it around the forest whenever we move. So we kinda pile everything on the piano and push.

But the guitar is mine and Danns. Our mom gave it to me on my 10th birthday. I had shared it with Dann, since he got nothing. We took turns learning songs. Dann's always been better than me, so I took up cello. I can still play some songs from some other random dimension, but I almost never practice anything. Don't get me wrong, I love music. Just not actually playing it.

I pulled a book out of the one shelf in the room. It was the Legend of Silence. Silence was the legend of Derek Titan and Connie Underwood, the first Keeper of Silence and his wife. I hear it's a wicked love story among the ladies.

I flipped through to the part where Derek faces a dragon.

"What are you doing here, Coy? You are not dead yet." The golden Dragon of Death's words did not match his words, as he was speaking in the Language of Old. Derek did not flinch, being called by his Dragon Name.

"Yes, Libitina. I have come here from the world of the Living."

The dragons white eyes flared. "Have you come to kill me? Or to try to cheat death, perhaps?"

"No. I have come for the one I love. 119 days ago she died of a cough that destroyed her. I cannot live without her, please- I beg you. Return Connie to me."

The Dragon seemed to smirk with pleasure. A devious plan had formed in his mind.

"Yes, I will return her to you. If you can pick her soul out of the millions that stand before you."

As the Dragon spoke an immense line of grey souls spared before Derek. There was no distinction on any of them. No living soul could tell them apart. Derek's hazel eyes gleamed with confidence.

"It's-"

I stopped reading there. The Legend of Silence was true, yes. But it was also sappy. Sappier than the HummingTree. A soft knock came from the door. It was open, why would anyone knock?

"Hey, I wanted to apologize" I almost fell out of my bed for this one.

"Yumé… Hey. What's up?" Two shocks here. One- she was wearing clean clothes. Two- she was apologizing.

"I just said I wanted to say sorry. So, um… Sorry."

"Oh, yeah it's fine. Whatever." I tried too hard to be nonchalant, seeing as she giggled. A strange noise for her.

"Can I come in?"

"Why are you being so polite?"

"I am?"

"Yeah, you're being totally nice to me. What's wrong?" I smiled at her as I said this so she wouldn't take anything offensively. She laughed.

"Right, what was I thinking? Hey, ya idiot. I'm coming in." She strode in and plopped onto the bed next to me, causing the hay-mattress to jolt a bit.

"What the hell are these beds made of?"

"Hay. Anything that's not actually natural has to be carried when we move. So, we didn't feel like moving beds, and the hay is kinda comfortable."

"Alright then. What'cha reading?" She stole the book from my hands and read the title before I got a chance to.

"Legend of Silence. Brushing up on your history or did you just want a good romance?"

"Oh, romance, definitely. I just get shivers down my spine at Connie's wedding!"

"Hey, Lilly told me to get you. Apparently Dann's got something he wants to tell you. He's in his study."

"Alright, thanks for telling me."

I headed out of the room without saying bye. I didn't mean to be rude or anything, but if Dann took the time to tell Lilly to tell me that I was needed, it must be serious.


End file.
